Leaping off the bench and shouting “nice pass” as the ball found its target was McKenzie Russell, cheering on her teammates.

It was a bit of a role reversal. For much of the night, it had been Russell bringing her teammates and Tiger fans to their feet with her highlight-reel plays.

Russell scored 25 points and created dozens more with an assortment of assists, rebounds and steals, leading Kirksville to a 64-30 victory in its NCMC and home opener.

The Lady Tigers improved to 4-0, continuing to roll after taking the Marshall Shootout championship last week.

“It felt good to come home and show everybody what we’re made of this year, that we’re a different team but we can still come out and be the same team and get those wins like we did last year,” Russell said.

Vorkink had 10 points, Nichole Cook had 12 points and five other Tigers contributed on the scoreboard against a Hannibal team that features just one senior.

KHS head coach Sara Williams thought her team did a better job taking care of the basketball and taking it to the basket, earning 22 free throw attempts.

“That’s one of our goals,” she said. “We shot pretty well from the free throw line and got some outside looks.”

At times the Tigers were a bit too aggressive, racking up their own personal fouls that landed a few players in early trouble.

The benefit in this case was the Tigers had a substantial lead early - up 17-7 after one quarter and 33-13 at the half - and Williams was able to utilize her entire bench.

“The good thing is we have enough people to rotate in so when that does happen, we have some quickness to compensate,” she said.

“I like to rotate [the underclassmen] in with the seniors to get them experience, but the same time I like them to play together because that’s who they’ll be playing with next year.

“It’s just going to make them that much better.”

Russell ignited the offense from all parts of the court, draining four three pointers, as well as slashing to the basket. Williams said becoming “the full package” is something she and Russell have discussed. They’re also working on one-on-one defense, as well as harnessing her aggressive defensive tendencies.

“She’s going to go after the ball every single time,” Williams said. “She wants the ball and she wants it really bad. We need to back her off sometimes.”

Page 2 of 2 - Nothing could back her off Monday. Not even when she was on the bench.

“You need to encourage your underclassman, because next year you’re leaving and who are you going to have to replace you,” Russell said. “I feel like if you help them and get them up and get their spirits high and help them when they do something good, show them that you’re there to support them, that will definitely help them out next year.”